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Indoor Gardens Rock, Things around the urban ranch have been a little busy the last couple weeks. For a week I helped some friends with electrical wiring for some ceiling lights. We removed three fluorescent lights and replaced them with 15 can lights. We split a circuit off an existing circuit to a circuit of its own and wired in a new circuit as well. It did turn out really well.

The weather here has all the signs of spring but our frost free date for this area is May 15th. I don't know about the tulips and daffodils being up already. I tried to convince them it wasn't time to be waking up but they just gave me the silent treatment. We had a warm week last week which melted all the snow and started the spring thaw. It was nearly 70 degrees one day and the time spent out on the front yard patio was a welcome change from the cold snowy winter weather. This week looks to be a little cooler but still not bad for February in Nebraska.

My daughter decided to replace my grandson's bed with a nice flat box furniture bed. For two days I tackled the task of assembling three boxes of parts into a Captain's twin bed. I had to laugh at the instructions which had five steps for the assembly and that the bed was made in Vietnam. I don't think much is manufactured in the States any more.

Hopefully, I can get back to working on the storage area this week. Spring is indeed coming and I need to get my winter project completed before the outside projects begin.

I hope you are enjoying the pre spring time of garden and flower anticipation. Have a great day.

Well, the great snow storm of February seems to be over. Here in Nebraska the snow accumulation was about 8 to 12 inches with 40 mph winds driving the wind chill down to -20+. I was brutal outside and school was cancelled two days this week. I finally cleared the driveway and sidewalk only to find out the possibility of more snow on the way this weekend. When the weather men say don't worry it will only be flurries, I start to be concerned. I do love a good snow. It always makes things look so clean and fresh. It was just too cold to get out and play in the snow so grandson and I staid inside and did games and puzzles.

I've been working on a food storage area in my basement and the progress has been slow but sure. My plan is to have the area completed by fall harvest time. If you want to read more about that project you can go to my personal blog

http://www. olddavesgarden. blogspot.com . You have to manually remove the spaces in the link for the link to work.

I have some major rewiring of cable TV and telephone lines that have been run willy nilly over the last 25 years that I've lived here. It just goes to show that if it's done right the first time then it won't have to be redone later.

Well folks, it's only 44 days until spring, Phil the groundhog says it will be an early spring, and I'm ready for it to warm up.

Here we are bearing down on February. We are definitely into the new year.

Ah, the joy of having the energy of a six year old in the house. Bradley and Gramps have tobogganed down the school yard hill this Winter. You should have seen us go down the big hill. We looked like the snowball express streaking down the hill with snow broiling up over the front of the toboggan as we whizzed down the hill. It scared the crap out of Bradley and it took about a half an hour before I could get him to go down the little hill. By the end of the day he was ready to tackle the big hill again, but Gramps told him we better just leave the slope on a positive note and think about it the next time we go tobogganing.

The basement food storage project is moving along. The electrical wiring for the two new florescent lights with a new wall switch has been completed. The insulation in the ceiling will begin today with drywall right after that. It's been a challenging project and as with any projects there have been unexpected things to deal with. Distractions like shoveling snow and shoveling snow and then there's shoveling snow has been prominent the last couple weeks. Hopefully, that will settle down a bit this week and allow me more time to work on the project.

I hope that your new year has started with many good positive things. The good news is it's only 56 days until spring and yes I am counting the countdown.

Arrrrrgh, My computer bit the dust some days ago. I decided to get a new computer instead of spending $200.00 to fix the old one. I think it's a dital plan by computer companies to make the repair so expense that it's more feasible to buy a new one than fix the old one. How did we get so connected to these machines that we can't live without them? I'm still in the learning curve of Windows 7. I'd rather have my XP back but such is life. Change is always the norm isn't it?

We received a skiff of snow last night with the weather person's promise of nine more inches to come before it's over tomorrow. My grandson will most definitely be happy that enough snow has arrived to go sledding. He's beginning to think Grandpa might be telling him a fib about having snow in Nebraska. What a difference from last year. Our snow was so deep we had issues with where to put it when we shoveled. The only place to go with the snow was up in piles over our heads. The weather has been so weird this last year all across the country. What will this year bring? Only God knows what is in store for us.

I'm still trying to bring the house back to order from the holidays. The Charlie Brown tree sits dark in the corner waiting to be bagged and scuttled off to the basement until next year. The disarry of decorations, new toys, and empty six year old play in boxes still reside in the living room. All the Christmas baking pans, cookie cutters, and speciialty made food delights are still lingering about the kitchen and house. This will be a week of bringing disorganisation back into order. Wish me luck with that.

Well, the frenzy of Christmas is over and things have some what settled back down into the routine of life. My grandson, now six and lives with me, started life in South Carolina, then moved to Las Vegas, then moved to Texas, then moved to Nebraska, then moved back to Texas, then moved to California, then moved back to Texas, and finally landed back in Nebraska last March. Grandson and Mom both live with me and celebrated Christmas with me this year. It was indeed a special time for this old Grandpa. Since I'm the only Grandpa Bradley has, I happen to be the best Grandpa ever. At one point in time, Bradley while sitting in the middle of the living room floor amongst many presents opened and unopened stopped and just sat looking around as if to try to comprehend just what was happened and enjoy the moment. As much as six year old emotions would allow, I detected he might have been close to an emotional tear of joy, but it only lasted for a second, then with childhood excitement he exclaimed, "The is the greatest Christmas ever" and dove back into unwrapping presents. It really touched this Grandpa's heart to see some stability, tradition, and childlike excitement in a grandson that's been bounced from coast to coast and back again.

May the New Year bring that same childlike joy and excitement into your life throughout the coming year.

As Christmas approaches closer, it seems that the last couple weeks have slipped by rather quickly. My shopping list grows shorter and the excitement and anticipation of Christmas Day arrival grows. I'm not so much a Christmas goody baker, but my daughter that lives with me makes up for it. Since there's a six year old grandson living in the household the excitement for Christmas is at a heightened level this year.

The Charlie Brown Christmas tree sits in the corner collecting presents. I call it Charlie Brown because after Christmas I just throw a bag over the tree and store it away for next year. With it's winking and blinking lights interspersed with fiber optic color changing lights, it's a far cry from the Christmas tree of my youth. Christmas trees have gone through many generations. Can anyone remember the tinfoil trees of the sixties or the frocked trees of a later vintage? So the question is artificial or real? I love the smell and memories of the real tree but the convenience of the artificial. I'm still trying to figure out a blend of the two that would work for me.

I wish you a wonderful season of celebration filled with excitement, joy, peace, and memories that will last a lifetime.

This last week was a sad week. The person that I talked about in the last post that was moving passed away just a couple days after we were talking about moving into her new place to live. It really showed me that life is a very fragle thing and each day is a precious thing that should be enjoyed.

I am lining up my winter project for this year. It will be an area of my basement that is now a complete packed full dumping ground for that stuff that you never want to throw away because you just might need some day kind of stuff. I know you know what I'm talking about. Well, I've long since forgotten whats even in that space. So now it's time to reclaim that area and make it into a productive food storage area. It will require a short wall to be built with a door. It will require some electrical wiring for a light and wall switch. It will require installing insulation and drywall hanging. Since I'm not the best at construction it will take most of the winter months.

Another joyous week has passed. This week was filled with Thanksgiving festivities and since school was out wonderful times with my grandson Bradley. Friday, I worked on my old Cavalier. I worked all day on trying to remove a defective front strut. The two main bolts would not budge not from pounding with a 5 pound sledge, or from soaking in penetrating oil, or from heating with a torch, nor from pressure from a makeshift press by use of a 6 inch “C” clamp. The plan now is to keep heating, pounding, and penetrating a couple times a day for a few days to see if the bolts will come out. If not then I’ll have take it to a repair shop and pay big bucks to have it replaced. I really would rather not have to do that.

A sign of the economic times is folks moving in with relatives because of job loss or just not being able to afford to live on their own. I helped two people move last month because of these reasons. This Wednesday will be number three with a fourth scheduled as soon as she can find an affordable place. Basic food has become an item that folks are struggling to afford. The return to backyard victory gardens of WII now becomes backyard survival gardens. More and more folks are starting to grow small basic gardens. I encourage them to grow even if it’s only a tomato plant or two. It’s a start that can be expanded when the time comes.